Posted By On April 11, 2011 @ 3:43 pm In Hockey,New York Rangers,NHL | 81 Comments

Brandon Dubinsky:

Said it was nerve-wracking watching Tampa-Carolina, especially when it got to 4-2.

“But when it was 3-0, we were pretty excited about that.”

On success vs. Washington this season:

“Hopefully we can get a little bit of confidence. When you play a team well like we did, hopefully it will give you some confidence. But, playoffs, everybody’s tied for first now. Playoffs, it’s a whole new season, it’s a fresh start, and that goes for both teams. Obviously they’ve gotten better and they’ve been on a helluva run lately, too, so I think it’s going to be a different team than the team we faced in the regular season, and we’re expecting that. And I think we’re a different team than they faced. So I think it’s going to be a fun series.”

On the series two years ago:

“It’s a different … we’ve had a different season than we had that year, as far as consistency, as far as work ethic, as far as games. I feel like we really deserve to be in the playoffs this time around and, maybe that time we didn’t because of the middle of the season we had. So I think the biggest thing we’re taking from that is the opportunity to go in as an underdog, an eighth seed, and try and make some noise, because we feel pretty confident with the group of guys we have here and the team that we have. So I think that’s what makes it the most exciting.”

Chris Drury:

On the series two years ago:

“Not many guys are left from that team. (told it was eight). Yeah, that’s a pretty good changeover. They’ve got a lot of new guys, too. Yeah, the guys who’ve been there have been through it, kind of know the routine of playing there and coming back here for a series. I think, some things you can draw on. But again, it’s such a new feeling, a new series, a new season.”

More Henrik Lundvist:

“It was painful to sit and watch the last game Saturday night, but it went our way. Maybe it was our turn after what happened last year. So it’s been exciting and I look forward to this.”

On not having doubt, and where the confidence was when they left the Garden Saturday:

“It felt like the season was over, honestly. I didn’t have a lot of hopes because we didn’t get a lot of help the last month. It felt like they were all winning behind us. So, even when they were up 4-0 I thought they would lose. But when we finally knew we were in, right away I just started to think about what’s going to happen, think about Washington, what they bring, and what I have to do to help this team win. Already, Saturday night I started to think about it. Now, each day, you practice, you prepare, everything you do right now is to get ready and play your best.”

On winning three of four vs. Caps:

“Not much. Even in the past we’ve played them in the playoffs, and you can’t look at the regular season. It’s a different season and also we played them a couple of games when they were struggling a little bit. Now I think they’re a better team, they have more confidence, their top players are playing well. It’s going to be a lot tougher for us to get the wins. But we’re a confident group right now. We’re going to have fun, we’re going to work really hard, and hopefully it’s going to be enough.”

Does he have to “stand on his head” to win this series?

“We’ll see. Hopefully we’re just going to play a really good team game and I do my job and that will be enough. But we’ll see. …. I know I have to play well for us to beat them, but that’s no secret. You know as a goalie, you have to be on top of your game.”

“It meant a lot personally to make the playoffs. I take a lot of pride in that. And, I mean, it’s a team game. But I took it very personal last year when we didn’t make it. I should be better to help the team to make it. It was a big goal we had going into this year, to bounce back and be back in the playoffs. I think everybody should be proud and feel good about themselves and what we accomplished.”

On the young kids on the team not having playoff experience:

“Well, I bet they had played playoffs before, growing up in different, junior hockey or whatever it’s been. It’s similar. It’s just more now. It’s bigger. It’s more intense. But you still learn from every playoffs no matter where you play it. You have to learn to move on from each game, and have a very short memory.”

Told Ryan McDonagh said he’d never played in any kind of a seven-game series, Lundqvist laughed, “Oh, really? … there you go.”

“We’re going to do whatever we can to help and support everybody in here. But it’s hard to really talk to guys. Playoffs is something you have to experience and learn for yourself. You can’t really tell them to do this or do that. You just go out and play your game. That’s pretty much all you can tell them: Relax and enjoy it and (have) a short memory. But the biggest thing, you kind of have to experience to learn from it.”

On communicating with the young D-men on the ice:

“I should communicate more. I’m pretty quiet. It always helps when you have guys talk more. Some guys talk more. I talk less. But it’s something I can definitely improve.”

On losing the 3-1 lead vs. Washington two seasons ago:

“It’s tough to think that we were up 3-1, but at the same time I think that they were the better team that time. We just felt … we stole some games there in Washington and then it felt like they started to heat up and we couldn’t get away with a fourth win there. Obviously, when you’re up 3-1, it hurts to lose it. But it just felt like they were a little better at that time.

“I’ve said that the standings doesn’t really lie after 82 games. They’re the No. 1 team. But, yeah, I think maybe we’re a little closer to each other this time than last time. They’re a really good team. They have a lot of skill up front; even their D is really good. So we’ll see. We’ll see how we do. But it feels like we’re a little closer this time than last time.”